Business/Consumer Services

Standard Parking CEO sees signs of economic recovery

SteveGelsi

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Jim Wilhelm gets a true on-the-ground view of the economy as chief executive officer of Standard Parking Corp., one of the largest providers of berths for passenger cars in the U.S.

Keeping close watch at Standard Parking's
STAN, -0.42%
2,200 parking facilities in 335 cities ranging from Yankee Stadium in New York to the Arco Tower in Los Angeles, Wilhelm remains cautiously optimistic about a recovery -- not a 'V' shaped bounce, but maybe 'U'-shaped recovery -- awaiting the U.S. economy

"We like to think that we're a leading indicator," said Wilhelm, whose company is 80 years old. "Parking at hospitals and schools has remained stable, but it's been down at airports and hotels up until the fourth quarter, when it started to flatten out."

Despite the recent recession, Standard Parking has been busy adding to its growth through a combination of acquisitions and contract wins at the Boston University Medical Center and elsewhere.

By focusing on management agreements instead of outright ownership of parking facilities around the country, Standard Parking has avoided the pain of the real estate downswing as it reinvests its cash flow into new technology.

Standard Parking, which has a market capitalization of $250 million recently became a fully independent company with the sale of shares owned by entities managed by The Blackstone Group
BX, +1.01%
Wilhelm said.

In a transaction related to the deal on Nov. 16, Standard Parking formally closed on an offering of 6.6 million shares of common stock, adding to its liquidity as a publicly traded company.

The company traces its roots to 1929, when the owner of a Standard Oil filling station in Chicago's Loop sold spaces for pennies a day.

Standard Parking became the first company in the U.S. to offer paid airport parking in 1951, and launched a line of musical-themed garages in 1985. It rolled out the first variable-rate debit card system for U.S. parking facilities in 1990.

Lately, Standard Parking has been touting its online services for prepaid parking spots, and will be using a similar reservation system for a high-profile contract, providing parking and bus services during the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

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